I have started many journals in the past and got bored with posting and stopped altogether. I am hoping that my desire to be fit at fifty and beyond does not waver! I have been a member of diettalk for many years and it was sad for me to realize that I weigh more now than when I originally joined. I was in a chat room last night and it was mentioned. I also realize that I am not the only one that has had this happen to them.
Ever since I joined dt, my goal has been to lose weight for my upcoming wedding.... which I did... got down to 130ish, and after that it was to lose weight for an upcoming vacation/cruise.. did that... got down to 130ish, and on and on. After the event, I would revert back to my old habits and the weight would come back plus a couple of more. Ugh. Five months from today I will be 50 years old and I am not going to handle it very well if I don't do something about my body. I made this decision back in Feb and started walking with my friend three days a week. Our walks average 4-5 miles each time. I have also joined a group of 6 women at my club for a team weightloss experience. We work with a nutritionist and a personal trainer three times a week. We had to take lots of tests to see what our indiv thresholds were in order to know what our "Zone 2" was. I have to keep my heart beat under 155. We were tested for our chronological age. I have the body of a 54 yr old. JUST WHAT I WANT TO HEAR. The program lasts for 12 weeks and I paid upfront for all the tests, the nutritionist to monitor my meals, etc. I am what you would call "motivated" as this was not a cheap thing to do! LOL. THIS TIME I am not trying to achieve a certain weight but rather a certain BMI. I want to have very, very toned arms. I wear lots of short sleeved and sleeveless tops and I want to be proud instead of embarrassed. I want my chronological age to be no higher than my actual age. I want to have strength and endurance. I have always detested workouts with weights and resistance training type things, but I know I have to do them in order to achieve what I am trying to achieve. I am hoping by posting all this in a journal... I will be able to see how I am progressing and that will give the what I need to continue.

Hurray, welcome to your new journal. I know I get bored sometimes also, but I also think that when I need it its here.

Hi Erin

WELCOME BACK

I was so pleased to see your name on here again. I think it is such a positive step the group/structured situation you have joined. I am very proud of you for making that step. Very smart idea. Please put your full effort into it, as we all know it isn't about losing for a special event, it is about the rest of our life! And as we age( sorry, i am alot older than you) it is about wanting a quality of life, thats what i am striving for, at 57 i look around at all the baby boomers in such sad pitiful shape from excesses and i think i look pretty darn good LOL but i want to stay mobile and active. just last week in our local paper 4 people between mid 40s,50s and one 62 yr old died. I now live in Ga.( 15 yrs) and it is the land of no exercise and fried food in large masses. It is a regular status for them to die late 40s to early 50s, they won't change..

You can do this, now get going, can't wait to hear all about it...

My Eball is back AND with a journal. Whoohoo!!!

LOL, as you can see I am happy to see you have started a journal Erin!!! You can do this my friend!!!

Welcome back Eball.

Carol

Wow.... thanks everyone for being so supportive of me.... very humbling (is that a word?!)
Went to my class yesterday and had an informative nutrition session. I am not eating enough dairy and still a bit too much protein. I will get it straight soon! Overall, I was on track and got my gold star for the week. Am I in first grade again, or what!
After the nutrition part we hit the treadmills and did a little workout. On MOndays... the time is mainly spent on nuteiiton. I stayed after class another 30 min and worked out by myself on the treadmill. I used very light dumbells and a stretch band periodically as our trainer had showed us to do, so I felt that I got a good workout in. I also walked with my girlfriend yesterday morning. That walk is more social than a true workout, but I count it anyway. I am BARELY in zone 2 when we walk and more often at the top of zone 1. It is better than sitting on couch tho.
I am waiting on the exterminator to come to my house, and then I am off to the gym .Today is my day to do resistance training... ugh. I signed up for the boot camp challenge, so this is a must! LOL
On the first of every month, I have been setting a weight goal for myself and so far I have met it each time. I don't want to get discouraged or feel disappointed, so I think this month, I am going to back off just a bit. I feel that a plateau has to be lurking around here for me somewhere and I want to be mentally ready. The games I play with myself! My goal for June 1 is to lose 5.5 pounds which would mean that I should weigh 136. I like that number as that is what I weighed when I first met my hubby! Definitely a good number for me!
Watched The First Wives Club again last night. Goldie Hawn was a yr older than I am now when she filmed that and wow.. she looked so wonderful... there is hope for me... I just know it! LOL

Sounds like you are getting in some great workouts and learning lots besides.

Now for those walks, lol, remember your mantry, PUSH!

Yesterday was the first day of Boot Camp and all was well. I did sneak in a couple of glasses of red wine, but no harm done. I plan on having Sat be my "official" weigh in day for Camp posting, so that way I will only post once a week. This morning is my walk with friend ( she brings her dog, so we can't go fast as the dog has to sniff and stop every 15 ft.... I have gently suggested that we would do better without the dog, but no) and then this afternoon is my class, so this will be a good day. After my coffee I plan on two boiled eggs and some fruit for breakfast. I normally have cereal, but today... I want something dif... really living life on the edge with boiled eggs! Ha

Very tired tonight. Walked 5 miles this morning... a bit longer and faster than our normal clip. Came home and slept for 2 hours!! Didn't sleep well last night. Woke up just in time for lunch. Ha ha. WEnt to exercise class at 4 and got back at 5:30 to gobble down my dinner. All is well. I can tell I need to take an Advil before bed as I am sore. We went up to incline 8 on the treamill and worked out at zone 2 and 3. For me... I had to get my heart rate to stay between 130 and 140 for zone 2 and then for zone 3.... I had to keep it over 140. At times it was closer to 160! That was tough! I will be feeling this tomorrow.

Wow, awesome workouts Eball!!!

I saw you post that you were going out of town, I hope you have a great time. Keep up the walking while you are gone!!! yes, that is an order!!!

Hello Erin :wave:

Wow, this was a wonderful surprise, finding YOUR journal!! And from the look of it, you are busting butt big time with your exercise. Go lady Go!

Crazy and Sandie... so nice to see your notes in my journal... thank you.
Went to my parents for a 4 day weekend. It was nice.... they live on the water in a resort type area... coast of south Texas. I walked each day... only 2 miles, but it was fine cause I biked each afternoon on the exerbike for 30 min, so I got in a total of 60 a day. I was constantly up and down the stairs and never took the elevator once. My parents would take the elavator, but I would just wait for them at the top or the bottom of the stairs. They seem to be aging so fast to me,... and I want to get them to exercise more, but don't really know how. My dads dr has told him to get more exercise and lose weight. He walks A LITTLE BIT up the street and back, but he needs to do more. He seems unsteady on his feet tho, so I am not sure how hard to push. He just had a physical and there are problems... heart. blood pressure, high cholesterol, these are all things that he has had for some time, so no new surprise. However, the dr REALLY wants him to get more exercise. I intend to go back in 7 weeks and I will learn some things about senior citizens exercising between now and then. They are CURRENTLY eating very well... lots of veggies and lean meat, etc. I ate a lot more than them and a couple of times, stopped eating when they did... and went to bed hungry! Still working on my portion control, obviously. A work in progress! Glad to be home... missed my hubby, and my dogs and my big tub with my bath salts! WAs so nice to have someone cooking for me for a change tho!

I WAS having a good day.... walked with my girlfriend for 4 miles... looking forward to my class this afternoon... went to the grocery store and my cell phone rang. It was my youngest son in Germany. His orders to ship to Iraq have been moved up to Aug 15th and it has really thrown him. I tried to be calm (because he was not) and have a good attitude about everything. I feel like I want to cry now tho.

Hi Eball,

I didn't realize you had a son in the service. I can relate three of mine were in at the same time, daughter got back from Iraq last fall( just before Thanksgiving) she is now out of Army although she can be recalled for three more years. My third child(son) was in Germany for three years and Iraq one, he got home Christmas will be three years now. He was a ground medic and traveled all over Iraq his year over there, he has one more year he can be called back. My oldest son( still in Navy) was on a ship offshore and watched the initial bombing take place when the war started.

I will say a prayer for your son, and if you ever need to talk please email me, i know what you are going through and will go through in the days ahead. My heart goes out to you, please tell your son i am thinking of him.

Hi Erin,

I'm glad you had such a nice time with your parents, and I'm sure they are delighted to have you watching out for them too.

I'm sorry you son will be leaving for Iraq sooner. But don't give up hope. I keep crossing my fingers that the new Congress will be able to do SOMETHING and at least slow this war down, or bring the boys home ASAP! Maybe if we got out of there they would stop all most of their nonsense and just get on with living again. If they have any common sense, they would do that.

Keep your chin up girl. He isn't there yet, so try and take some comfort in that. OK? :)

Eball, glad you had a good time with your parents, that is nice. Maybe as your dad sees you getting in shape it will inspire him also.

Sorry about Matthew being shipped out sooner that you both expected. Will definitely keep you all in my prayers.

Sandie and Crazy.... thanks..... I feel better now.... other than it is 1 am and I can't sleep, LOL... so maybe I AM still upset. Who knows. I will get used to the idea.
Had soup for supper. Made a big pot after I got back from the gym and it was pretty good. Had made the chicken earlier in the day with the crockpot... cheated and just bought the chicken broth in a can. Made enough for 3 or 4 more meals. Trying not to turn to food to comfort me... so far, so good.

I know how you feel about having your son leave earlier for Iraq. My son was in the Army and then rejoined the armed service and was in the navy for years. I was always anxious.

Carol

Carol.... that is exactly how I feel... anxious. I am better today.
Was in a chat room earlier and whining about not wanting to get on the elliptical and Crazy/Nancy talked me into just doing it.... thanks Crazy
Eating is on track today... BUT I DO HAVE THE MUNCHIES.... ugh. Exercised for 22 min on the elliptical. WAs trying for 25 min, but the dog started fussing and walking in tight circles and I knew what that meant! I can ignore the phone and let the machine pick it up, but not the dog! Had cereal for breakfast, veggie soup with chick for lunch, crackers and a banana for snack and planning on salad tonight. Have to get a walk in tonight to get my 60 min of exercise per my bootcamp goal.

Exercised for 22 min on the elliptical - whoohoo!!! Good job sweetie!!! You're my hero!!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/nannerbanner/superhug.gif

Crazy... YOU ARE TOO FUNNY!!! LOL
Went to exercise class last night and got in 4 miles on the treadmill at varying inclines.. It went well I think. Tomorrow is first weigh in as a group. The class is 12 weeks long and we have 3 weigh ins. Hope all goes well there. Had champagne last night, so who knows. My goal today is elliptical and walking tonight. I might even get motivated and go buy some bedding plants and work in the garden. Hubby leaves town tomorrow for 2 weeks. He goes to Edmonton, Minneapolis, and Iowa. I know it is silly, but I am hoping to look "different" by the time he comes home! I think it will take more than 2 weeks tho. My motivation is good and my energy level is for the most part good. No emails from Matthew yet. He had told me they were going to be real busy for the next few weeks getting certified for various things, so I am not surprised I haven't heard from again. Thanks for the pm's I have received about him and all the postings here too. I am doing better about him. I know when the time actually comes for him to go... I will have a hard time, but I am trying not to think about that. All the soldiers in his platoon are supposed to get a 2 week leave in JUly before they ship in August, so I am trying to focus on that. When stateside, he will split is time between his uncle that he adores (and who adores him.... in Michigan), his father in Dallas, me in Houston and his grandparents (my folks) near Corpus Christi, Texas. I will be with him at my parents place.

WAs trying to change my signature... it didn't work the way I wanted, but I did manage to add Matthew's pic! That makes me happy!!!!
Hubby just left for airport... its 4:30am. I may go back to bed.
Got my new BMT shoes yesterday... they are pretty cool! I think I will like them, but I am going to have to slowly get used to them. I wore them for maybe 45 min yesterday. I also worked in the yard for 3 hrs yesterday. Don't know if the sore back is from the shoes (they are so dif and the book that comes with them tells u to expect a sore back at first) or from the yard work. Planted LOTS of bedding plants. ...
impatients, marigolds, vinca, bachelor buttons, balloon flowers, clown flowers, pink polka dots, bougainvilia, horsetails, ferns, a type of daisy that I can't remember the name!, and bunches of day lillies. I didn't finish them all, so I have to work on that today also.
Today is weigh in at exercise class.

Wow, that is a ton of plants, no wonder your back is sore. You crazy woman, these things can be done smaller bites at a time!!! LOL

That is a great picture of Matthew, you can be a very proud mom!!!

Oh, I came back to tell you that I started a thread in the prayer section for everyone to add the names of their family members who are in the service so that others can pray for them. Thought you might want to know.

I found the thread and "registered" my boys! LOL.. Thanks, Crazy.
Went to my class and got weighed for the first time as a group... no big deal. Some lost and some didn't... no one gained. We get weighed every three weeks. Tomorrow is weigh in for me for boot camp. In the class... I had lost 3 pounds from last time, but honestly... I lost those 3 the first week and nothing since then. Oh well... I am happy with it. Came home and had a huge salad. Took one dog for her walk and have one more dog/walk to go... the big dog. I take them each for 2/3 mile walk.

Sunday afternoon... got an email from one son and a card from another.... all is well.
I have been on a cooking bend today. I made two dif types of soup and have frozen a lot of it. Also made a jicama and tomatilla salsa this morning. It is now in the fridge waiting on me for supper. Lunch was the hot and sour soup and mid morning snack was some of the pureed spinach and zucchini. I got both soup recipes from recipe section here on dt.... I had to go WAY back tho to get them. I was bored yesterday and was scrolling thru all the old soup recipes. Both turned out really good. Had to make two trips to the store tho to get all the ingredients... I don't seem to be able to read today! Must be my advanced age catching up to me!
Went for a walk this morning and plan on elliptical later... maybe pool? Haven't been in the pool yet this year... still very cold to me, but who knows.
Trying to stay busy. I think Mothers Day is a day when all mothers think of their children.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY ERIN!!!

I would say that between the cooking, walking and planting, you have certainly been busy! Hope you have a great day.

Got a great night sleep and woke up feeling super. Read the USA Today paper... had an article about Strykers (tank in Army) and my son is gunner on Stryker, so I had to read it of course. It said that Strykers have been hit hard lately in Iraq with bombs and that now , the Iraqi know how to deal with Strykers and the Army is losing the tank and the teams rather quickly. Just what I wanted to read at 5 am! Went for a 30 min walk with one of the dogs real early. Came home and picked up the house a bit... don't want to go overboard with cleaning! Got on the elliptical and thought about all the things Matthew has told me about HOW PROUD HE IS TO BE A SOLDIER. Naturally I don't want anything bad to happen to him, but I keep telling myself that no matter what.. he is happy with what he is doing and that is so important. Pride and sense of responsibility is a wonderful thing. Some people never get it.
Elliptical..... 55 minutes, 550 calories burned (according to the machine.. don't know how accurate that is), 5.8 miles.
Have my meals already planned out and exercise class is at 4 today... the nutrition part is today, so there won't be a whole lot of the exercise part.

hey i found it!

whoo hoo! just wanted to stop in real quick! i had fun chatting tonight! Now I know where to find you guys...i'm going to try to stop by more frequently! im actually tired but thinking of starting my journey as well...we'll see! i'll talk with u soon! thanx for chatting!

luv ya!

meesh

Ready for another good day today. Just ate my steel cut oats mixed with dried fruit. I think the taste is growing on me.
Went to class yesterday... topic was fiber and if we get enough. I had always assumed that because i ate lots of veggies ... I was fine. According to the nutritionist... I may be a littlle low on fiber, so today, I am really tracking it and paying attention. I saw that the steel cut oatmeal has 5 grams of fiber and my reg cereal only 2. Also an apple has 5 and my favorite fruit... fresh pineapple only 2 . So today, I am having more apple and some steel cut oats. Will also go buy some raspberries as they are hi too. JUst changing those two things will put me over the 25 grams a day I need . I think I was getting more like 18 before . No plans for exercise yet. Meals will be soup and salad.
Was in a chat last night and it was a lot of fun... I have missed that.
Meesh... glad you found me. Will be watching for your new journal.

Hi Erin
It's been a while, you sound so committed to losing and exercising. I am so pleased for you. I don't know what the steel cut oats are but I hope they taste good!!
catch up with you more later I hope.

Hey there,

I enjoyed chatting with you and Meesh last night too. Thanks for being here.

Keep up the good work!!!

Had trouble sleeping last night... not sure why. Got up at 1 am and went for a 2 mile walk.... took one of the dogs with me for part of the walk. I also walked with my girlfriend for 5 miles this morning so I am quite tired now. I have exercise clas later today, so I am sure I have a nap in my immediate future. Eating is going well. A bit nervous about tonights class as the trainer warned us in advance what wil happen tonight! High incline, Zone 3 with heart rate, heavier hand weights, etc. Fell down yesterday on wet floors in my bathroom... not one of my more graceful moves.... hurts now when I sit down... Can't stand up forever! No bruising ... yet!
Motivation is good...stress level much better,... energy level, considering how much sleep I got, is good. Menu is planned out for the rest of the day. All is well

Ouch!!!!! That must have hurt but good!!!!!!! Glad you are basically ok.

Ah, very organized and zooming along. Keep it up eball. Just a few more months to your birthday. YOu are going to look awesome on that cruise.

Slept well last night and have already had my oatmeal for breakfast. Had a good exercise class. Talked about the need to change our form of exercise up. Todays plan is to get on exerbike or/and elliptical for 5-9 min about 10 times scattered thruout the day. We talked about this in class last night and I am curious to see the effect. Of course, I have to do the same thing on my "off" days to figure out if it does anything! Off days for me are Tue, Thur, Sat and Sun. The point of this is to keep the metabolism revved up... the speed that I go is not so important, so no need to go really fast... in class we talked about just the opposite... go slow... just move... but move in a way that you don't normally move. Walking is my normal exercise and then elliptical, so I think I will concentrate today on the bike.... I also have a Health Walker up there, but it is a dif movement than just walking , so I may throw some of that in there too.
Have to go to the store today. Making a big pot of clam chowder for Rachel and her friends for tonight. Hope it turns out.
A little sore from the fall, but not much... could have been worse.

Had a great class last night. MY hip and knee are very sore from the fall and I am taking Advil. I was afraid before class that I would not be able to keep up, but I did it and wasn't in agony at all. WEnt for a walk with my girlfriend yesterday morning and we got in over 7 miles! So my exercise from Friday was wonderful. I had great plans for Thursday, but they didn't exactly work out. I cooked a ton of dif soups and gave some away and froze some, but I was literally on my feet in the kitchen for over 6 hrs. I ended up with no exercise at all and I was okay with that as I was moving and that was my whole desire. Weighed this morn.... 136.5. Happy with that as my goal for the month of May was to weigh 136 on June 1st. Don't want to change my stats yet as this may be just a fluctuation of water or something... I will keep weighing and if I hold this for a couple of days, then I will post it. Todays plan is what I had planned for Thursday... get on bike or helth walker off and on thruout the day... just aim for movement in short spurts.

hey there!

wow youre a walking maniac!!! LOL you go girl!!! are you recovered from the fall? what did you hurt????

congrats on being down in your weight! that is awesome!!!!!!

keep up the great job!

hope to chat again soon!

luv

Meesh

Sunday night
Overall a good weekend. Eating was good. Made Asian Slaw and love that. Broiled some orange roughy to go with it. I have leftovers for tomorrows lunch. Just got off the exerbike... went for 30 min at a VERY slow speed, but I am okay with that as all I was aiming for was slow steady movement. I want to get 30 more min in about an hour or two from now. I also have to take the dogs out for a walk still, but it will be a short one. I took them out this morning for almost a mile. Drinking green tea... trying to tell myself that I like it. Got a quick email from Matthew. They are still going out in the field to get certified for whatever..... Don't really know. He talked about packing his stuff up for storage. I try to take deep breaths. Doing okay. He is still working on getting home leave in mid JUly. I am counting on that.
My walking buddy will not be available tomorrow, do I will do the elliptical instead of walking in the morning. Trying to mix things up a bit.
Meesh.... I hit my butt and my hand... thought I had jammed my wrist, but I didn't. I also didn't think I really hurt my back/butt.... I did! Ha. It is already getting better tho, I can tell.

THANKS!

i'll check in soon!

luv ya!

Meesh

you are doing :super:

Happy to hear your are on the mend :)

Had just a short walk with the dog this morning. My friend couldn't go, so I didn't either! LOL.... but I did go to my exercise class. MOnday is nutrition day, so we talked aobut any problems we were having. As a group... most of the people don't like veggies , so a lot of time was spent with talking about that. Since I love veggies (I love FOOD), I just kind of sat there. Finallly, we went out to the treadmills and got in about 30 min of good cardio. After class, I stayed another 30 min on the weight machines, so overall, I feel good about my exercise today.
Had a great chat with Meesh last night. I think we motivated each other! We talked about how her ww and my eating plan are very similar.
Hubby coming home tomorrow. Yea! I am ready.
Need to go to grocery store tomorrow as I am out of lots of stuff. Need to plan a few days meals. Will work on that tonight .

HUbby made it home so I am happy today! He turned the heat on in the pool, so today will be my first day in. Have a 5 mile walk planned with grilfriend and exercise class tonight, so no worries about getting my exercise in today! Had lots of champagne last night, so woke up not feeling too spiffy.... ugh. Took advil and am fine now... I hope! Got an email from Matthew, ... he is still working on getting a home leave in July. I have decided not to think about the possibility that he WONT be able to come home... instead I am ASSUMING that he WILL come home. In previous emails , he had joked with me about walking/running with me.. he wanted me to train with him and I said I would... at a slower pace of course. I am going to keep that thought in my head for the next 8 weeks and plan on him being here.. I better get in better shape, so I don't dissappoint him. I have been telling him about my walks, the gym classes and that I am losing weight! He keeps telling me how proud he is of me. I need to think positive stuff about him or I will make myself crazy. Crazier.
Eating is going well. Made a big pot of veggie type soup yesterday. Had a big bowl of steel cut oats mixed with dried fruit for breakfast. That was good. Will have the soup again for lunch... maybe supper too! Need to get a salad in somewhere tho. Bought organic spring mix lettuces yesterday, so that should be good. Still in my jammies and drinking coffee... need to get the dogs out, get my gym clothes on and go meet my friend for the walk.

He keeps telling me how proud he is of me.

Oh eball, that is so neat, to have your son say he is proud of you. Oh what a feelin'!!! That will keep you movin'!!!

Happy to hear hubby is home :)

Enjoy your pool :D

I was in a great mood,,, ready to come here and post all about my day... i logged on and 2 seconds later.. my son instant messaged me. I was happy to hear from him of course, but also shocked as it was 3 am in Germany. I knew he had been out in the field doing "manuevers".. whatever that actually is. Last week, the tank he was in flipped and rolled... he was on gunnery.. so he was half in and half out of "the hole". The medics had to cut his uniform off of him to get to the wounds.. he is angry cause he has to pay for it himself. He was hospitalized with "minor" wounds, stitches, minor concussion, abrasions, ets. .... for two days and then sent back out in the field. Three guys in the tank were hospitalized for 5 days. All are back on base now. One broke his hip, another his arm, and one had a BAD concussion and lost consciousness for 48 hrs. Matthew repeatedly assured me he was very sore, but okay. He was joking around about having to pay for the uniform.... $110. His weapon was also busted... he doesn't know if he has to pay for that or not. He said he was afraid to ask! Common sense tells me that if he is sitting at his computer in Germany and typing to me and joking about his stuff... then he is okay.... another part of me is thinking... my son was hurt, in the hospital, stitched up... and I didn't even know about it. He says he couldn't call me from the hospital. I asked him if he was getting a purple heart. He thought that was funny. My hubby said you only get those if you are in combat... not a training accident. WELL...... I think he should get one. Now, I am not in a good mood any more and I don't feel like talking about my day.

God was watching over him Eball. Sometimes we forget that when our children are hurt etc. It is wonderful that he could contact you and to even joke around. He sounds like a terrific person. Good job.

my son didn't tell us about those things till after he was out of the Army, i am glad too! When he was in Iraq he called me every three weeks to let me know he was okay, so different than my husband was called up in the first Desert Storm.

Eball, this is an inspiration to us all. I am going for a 30 min walk this morning. Weighed in at 172 this morning and am 3 lbs down from starting this 10 days ago. I have to weigh in on Monday and see my dietician. Best from Angie

Crazy and Judith... ty for the thoughts...
Angie... Wow.... I am an inspiration to you! I like that! Ha ha
Felt sorry for myself last night... shed a few tears... now I am fine. Matthew finds out on Monday WHEN his home leave is... I will make the reservations for him after that. He will fly from Germany to Atlanta (some kind of military hub there... he says he HAS to go thru there... okay?!) and from Atlanta on to Dallas to see his dad for a week and then the second week will be with me, so I will fly him from Dallas to Houston. While in Dallas, he wants to go to Michigan to see his uncle, but I am going to let them work on that . His dad's brother. Did I mention that his dad is THE MAN THAT I WAS MARRIED TO THAT LEFT ME FOR ANOTHER WOMEN 20 YRS AGO WHEN I HAD NO JOB, NO MONEY AND 2 BABIES!? Okay... I am fine now..... I am going to go ahead and make the reservations all the way thru and then back to Germany, so that I KNOW ITS DONE.
Walked this morning with my friend. We went a total of 4 miles. Came home and kicked/played in the pool for maybe 15 min. The phone kept ringing and I kept having to get out and answer it... and deal with some tennant issues.... I would like to have ignored it, but its business and I can't do that! Have my exercise class this afternoon. Last Wed night... the class was incredibly hard! It is getting progressively harder each time. I am not looking forward to tonites class. I am so sore right now. I have to zip home after class, jump in shower and get ready for daughters graduation from high school. I am going to be tight on time, so no room to goof off. I already know what I am wearing and everything is already set aside... shoes, purse, etc.
Eating has been fine... we are going to a party tomorrow night and I am just a bit nervous about that. I have no idea what my option of food will be, so I may or not be eating much there. If nothing is "healthy"... I am just going to put a little bit on my plate and PICK at it. Hopefully, I will not draw any attention to myself. I can always eat something when we get home... of course,.... it will be really late at that point. I don't necessarily want to eat before hand because the food there may be just fine for me and after all... ITS A PARTY! LOL I just have to be strong, that's all. I have to remember that Matthew will be so proud of me when he sees me! That will keep me in line!! )i hope...lol

Sounds like you are busy today. Hope all goes well. Good for you for going to your class even though it makes you very busy!!! That is why you are going to be successful. I think your boys are like you, strong, determined, and focused. Yeah mom!!!

Hope you have a great time at the party, your food plans sound really good. And drink lots of water too. They say to make the 'party' about the people and not about the food. Sounds like a good plan to me.

See you later and we can talk about how our weekends went.

thanks for dropping in on my journal. You sound busy. My son noticed the soldier's picture. Your son? Bless him!

HI Susan,
Yes... the picture is of Matthew, my youngest son.

Hey there, Just peaking in to let you know we are chatting Monday nights. See the link in my signature. See you there.

Crazy... I plan on being there.... I just hope I remember! We have nothing planned, no one is coming over, so I should be okay. I even wrote it down in my day timer... now if only I remember to LOOK in the day timer! lol
Went to the party last night and of course, I had a couple of glasses of wine, but didn't over do it so I am happy with that. I made the best choices of what was available, but no real "diet" type food was there! I had a broccoli salad that I found out later had a very high cal dressing on it!, a grilled chicken leg, a small spoonful of grits and one piece of raw cauliflower. I am quite proud of myself as there was an incredible amount of wonderful (and of course, fattening!) food there that I just walked past.:)
Hubby and I got up early and hit the gym at 6:30. I did 45 min on the weight machines, and about 10 min on a machine called .. The Arc... similar to elliptical and about 12 min on treadmill. Then hubby was ready to go... so we left. Came home and got in pool and kicked around for maybe 20 min. Went inside and took a nap! Fighting the urge to snack this afternoon... don't know what is up with that. Have a salad planned for supper, so I at least know what I am SUPPOSED to eat. Its raining out now, so I can't get back in pool, or go for a walk. I would like to cause I would like to get FAR AWAY from the kitchen. Decided to come to dt and post in my journal and decide on my goals for the next boot camp. Weighed this morning...... officially down a pound. I posted it on the final for this round of Boot Camp. Also posted it on my profile stats...... love to change that number! DOWN!
Am slowly wearing more and more clothes in the closet... but still lots I can't wear!! The sizing of things is very frustrating for me. I had planned on a skirt for last night... it was a size 10... it was WAY to tight (Liz C.), so I was trying on other things... ended up with a dif skirt/skort thing.... SIZE 6!!!!.... (Lilly Pulitzer)... what is with that?! Currently wearing jeans... Calvin Klein... size 8 (I think)... they are a bit snug but not tight.... snug only across the stomach, my big problem area. Ugh
I told myself when I get under 130, I am getting a massage.... I am so ready for that to happen! I get hair cuts, hair color, and facials anyway... I consider that just "maintainance", but a massage is special! It's been over a yr since I had one and I really, really love them! Only 5 pounds away. At the rate/average I have been going... that will be in about 3 weeks I hope. Unless I hit a nasty, dreaded... PLATEAU!

My son called... he is coming home on July 14th... I am a happy mom!
Went to exercise class... worked hard... looking forward to Crazy's chat tonight. I got a short walk in this morning due to the rain but managed another one in the middle of the day... if you add them up.. I walked 4 miles today plus my class.. I feel okay about it as this is a holiday weekend and I stayed strong.
Got thru daughter's high school graduation, a neighborhood party and a 3 day weekend, managed to exercise each day (I think?!). All is well

Eball,

You are doing so awesome. I am totally impressed!!!

Sorry about chat. I left a message in the chat thread.

It looks like you're doing well, eball1. Keep it up but please be careful that you don't push too hard.

Glad to hear about your son coming home. Homecomings are always a happy occasion. I did 20 years and change in the Navy, and I was always happy to see my family waiting on the pier after a six month deployment.

It is 5:45 am here and I am drinking my coffee. Wanted to get up early and go for my walk before it gets too hot. The humidity has been quite high lately which makes my walks unbelieveably horrid.
Bob... I won't do too much... I am energized right now... signed up for a challenge here called boot camp and I set some really high exercise goals, but other than the class I take... my exercises are pretty easy. I am going for "movement" I guess. Any movement is better than sitting in front of the tv right?! Navy for 20 yrs.. wow... I am impresses. When I kick in the pool... it is more like playing around than like exercise!
All is well with me. I did remember to post my weight in both boot camp threads (the old and the new) and also posted it on the RED TEAM weigh in. Still excited about Matthew coming home. Yesterday, when I got the munchies... I thought about how long it has been since I have seen him and how good I want to look at the airport.... and instead of eating.. I went and got back in the pool and kicked around for another 30 minutes! I have 6 weeks and 3.5 days till I see him.
Eating is going well as long as I plan in advance and know exactly what my snacks are going to be. If I "wing it", I am in trouble.
Fiftieth birthday is getting closer, but I am confident that I will be fine when the day comes. A lot more confident than I was 4 months ago! Confidence is such a BIG THING.
Need to go for the walk.. no walking partner today, just me, so this will be different.

My morning walk turned out to be pretty crappy... didn't push.. didn't walk long... 30 min... etc. Came home and got in pool and kicked around for 30 more min. Went to the gym a bit earlier than class and got on The Arc and did 15 min there and then went to class. Ended up being an okay day as far as the exercise went. Stayed with the eating plan, so no issues there. Had ONE SIP of hubby's wine tonight, so that was okay too. Need to do quite a bit of housekeeping tomorrow... I have let things slide a lot!! What an understatment! With hubby and myself doing lots of exercising and lots of going to the gym... the laundry has piled up... we have three dogs.. all inside... two that shed... ALOT... Need to take care of business around here... plus need to go to grocery store. Have a closing tomorrow at 4... selling one of my houses to the tennant. Should be busy

Walked 4 miles by myself this morning.. it is so much harder walking alone! Exercise class went well last night... I did not feel too worn out and walked down the stairs after class to get to the car, and didn't feel like my legs were shaky. Progress.
Was up at 5 and threw some laundry in before I walked, so now that is in the dryer, another load in washer and I am done with that! Yeah!
Kids still asleep upstairs, so will not try to vacuum.... YET. But by 8:30... I don't care. I am not thrilled with the new routine... stay up all night and sleep all day. Ugh.
Tomorrow is weigh in for the exercise class... I am excited as I have done well this 3 weeks... just hope nothing weird happens with my water retention! Don't plan on eating any pickles or soy sauce, so I should be okay.
Need to figure out a grocery list. Meant to do that last night, but......

Hi Erin
You have been so busy and so focussed. I will have to think of you and inspire myself to keep more on track.
Enjoy your day.

Looking forward to hearing about weighin!!! I am sure it will be good.

Good job on exercising instead of munching!!! HURRAY FOR EBALL!!!

Hi Ellie... so good to see you.... you are missed when you go "missing" Ha
Crazy... I am anxious about my weigh in also! REAL ANXIOUS. The scales at the gym are dif from here and for the life of me... I can't remember if it's a 2 pound or a 4 pound dif. I know I have lost... I just don't know how much. I have already figured out what I will eat today.. want to make sure that I have nothing with lots of sodium in it! Save that for supper tonight... AFTER WEIGH IN! LOL
Plan to get in some pool time today and hopefully a bit on the exerbike.
Have to go to insurance office today and give them closing papers from yesterday.. for some reason they need to see them to cancel my insurance on the house I just sold. Don't know why, there was no mortgage on the house, but I will do that, drop off a ring at jewelers to get repaired,... grocery store, dry cleaners... thats my day. I will post much later tonight about the class.
Okay... goals for June...
Today is June 1 and I weighed 133.5 this morning... I reread my beginning journal and I know that I weighed 141.5 on May 1, so I lost 8 pounds. Very happy with that. I don't want to jinx myself tho! I keep thinking a "plateau" is waiting around the corner for me. My goal for May had been 5.5 pounds, so I did a lot better than that. June goal..... I want to lose 6.5... I want to weigh 127 on July 1 .... I have not weighed in the 120's.... in a long time.

Congrats on selling the house. That will be one less thing to worry about when all the paper work is done.

Congrats on passing your May goal, you have been doing just fantastic. One consistent little trooper!!! I am sure you will make your July 1 goal as well. Then your birthday cruise will be one amazing party!!! Whoohoo!!!

Thanks Crazy! I feel great.
Last night weigh in... down 6 pounds from 3 weeks earlier... next weigh in.... three weeks away.
Weighed myself this morning on my scales here at home. That is what I post my stats here at dt with... changed my stats to reflect todays weight. I am really feeling great about this "diet" because its not a diet! How good can it get! Biggest dif between the way I eat now as opposed to a few months ago... smaller portions and I am eating starches again and not feeling like I am "cheating" when I have bread or rice or potatoes or corn.. all of those are starches. Oh, and of course, I have cut back on wine and champagne. Well... I can't have EVERYTHING! LOL
My plan today is to get in lots of pool time... lots of kicking up and down with a kickboard. Also, I may go for a long walk... not sure about that one. Have my menus planned out for today.... more or less!
Two and a half more pounds and I book the appointment for a massage!!!
Matthew comes home 6 weeks from today!!!!

8 lbs gone !!!!!!!!!!!!!! WONDERFUL !!!! :up:

I am so so thrilled for you :D

Congrats on your loss!

Sun morning
Thank you Susan, Nancy, and Beth... I appreciate your comments!
Drank champagne last night... too much... not feeling up to par right now, but I will NOT let that slow me down. I haven't been drinking, so my body was not used to that! Ha!
Had my fiber cereal for breakfast... didn't really enjoy it today... usually I do! Lunch and supper are planned out,... just leftover from yesterday so thats easy!
Pool time, bike riding on exerbike are the big plans for the day. Tomorrow is nutrition and exercise class, plus a 4 mile walk with my friend who has been on vacation. Walking by myself is so much harder than when she is with me!
Hubby leaves for Mexico tomorrow for a couple of days. He has a golf game planned with an employee there... included in the foursome is the Belgium ambassador to Mexico that hubby played with a yr ago. The Ambassador asked specifically for hubby to play with him! I thought that was pretty funny.
Will check in later.

Five Weeks And Six Days Till Matthew Comes Home

I like to join in the journalling, as I am on a 1200 cal diet and tomorrow is my weigh in, so I am trying to keep up the exercise. It seems that now at 56 i am doing more exercise in my life than ever before. i swim three times a week and walk everyday. i even hop on the exerc ise bike, my thyroid is not working well and take synthroid. But I am donw 4 pounds since I started watching. Weigh in is on Monday.

Wow, Belgium ambassador to Mexico, that is pretty impressive!!! Hope he has a great time.

One more day to chat Erin!!! Whoohoo!!!

Five Weeks And Six Days Till Matthew Comes Home

Counting the day! I hope the time passes quickly until his return that slows for you.

Hi Erin congrats on your loss, don't matter what I seem to do at the moment the weight will not shift. If only I could plateau at 130. Have a great week.

Great work! I know it helps to have things planned out. You seem to do that very well. I hope the next 5+ weeks breeze by for you!

Thanks Bob, Ellie and Susan. I miss Matthew so much... I have now hit a PLATEAU, and I am VERY big into plan my meals!!
Actually, this may not be a plateau. I had a bunch of soy sauce over the last two days and my weight jumped UP two pounds and is staying there. NO more soy sauce for me for a bit ( since the salad I made with the soy sauce in the dressing is now gone!) and maybe the scales will float back down. I intend to have totally dif type foods today to see if that won't help also. I am not concerned actually cause I know I am eating according to plan and getting lots of exercise, so all will work out.
Had my nutrition class last night and earlier in the day I walked with girlfriend. We have another walk planned for this morning. I will get on exerbike later this afternoon. That is my daily goal for the day in Beth's new thread! Hubby is in Mexico for a couple of days, so just me here. The dogs do not sleep well when he is gone.... which means I don't either. It is just after 4 a.m. right now. Drinking my coffee.
Had a great chat last night with Crazy and took my measurements and wrote them down so that one month from now, when I take them again.... I will see the change. I wrote them in my daytimer on July 4th date so I will be sure and see them again a month from now! Was pleased with my waist, but nothing else! A work in progress, a work in progress, a work in progress.

Hey eball, wow, 4 am. Poor girl.

Good for you, you realized that the soy sauce is the culprit and are continueing on in a positive attitude. That is a huge step right there!!! Proud of ya.

cool idea about writing down your measurements on July 4th.

Well, have a terrific day!!!

4 am, good grief. Hope you get sleep. Your waist measurement is great. Keep it up. Neat idea with putting your measurments in your planner.

Slept fine last night, so this day is off to a good start. Ate a dif type breakfast this a.m as I was told that if you hit a plateau, that is the thing to do. Normal breakfast is cereal and yogurt and this morning I had a piece of toast with fried egg on it. Not sure what dif that makes , but I did it. I got rid of the water weight I was holding from all the soy sauce, but the scale has not moved down since my weigh in Sat morn. I know that 5 days is not long, but I just want to see SOMETHING! Took the dogs for a walk already and ran into a huge... HUGE snake. Maybe an anaconda... maybe a little anaconda.... not sure... but we came straight home after that and I was nervous till we got in the house. I HATE SNAKES. The first summer we lived in this house, we had two dif grass snakes IN THE HOUSE. I love my house.... its 5000 sq ft of wonderful... but at those moments.... I hated the house and wanted to move. We haven't had any visitors in the house tho since then. We have them in the pool skimmers often.... the pool man used to feel the need to tell me when he found them... I wouldn't get in the pool for days afterwards... my hubby finally told the pool guy not to say anything to me about it. So... ignorance is bliss.
Have my exercise class this afternoon, so not too sure what my other exercise plans are for today. May get in pool and kick around for a bit. Might try and get on elliptical for 10 min or so. Don't want to do too much and get sore... class tonight is going to be tough! Planning of fish and a salad for lunch and veggie soup with chicken for supper after class.
Crazy and Smallfri.... I know me and if I didn't write down the measurements on the day I measure next... I would write it down on some stupid little piece of paper and then lose the piece of paper!

Eball1 have you ever heard of putting moth balls around the area like your house are pool the snakes won't come it worked four me. Don't worry the wieght will start coming off again. Just smething I thought I would pass on with the moth balls it was worth it 4 me.

Ok, eball, remembered to take my measurements this morning. So we are off to the races.

Eek, snakes, don't like them either, fortunately we don't have many if any here.

Enjoy class today.

Measure, Measure, Measure, Measure. lol. J/K, I know you will do it.

Audrey...I have hard about moth balls and snakes.. but have never done it. Maybe I should!!
Crazy and Small.... I did measure and I did go to class. All is well thre. We went up to incline 14 for the first time in class yesterday. WE only did it for 60 seconds, so it was okay. She warned us tho to expect more of that tomorrow! Ugh. Maybe I will be sick tomorrow! Only kidding (I think :o)
Went for a 4 mile walk this morning. It is so hot and humid out. My face was quite red by the time I got home. I may stop my walks with the girlfriend. She WILL NOT get up and walk earlier and I much prefer walking when the sun is not beating down on me. But I also don't like to walk alone... so its a trade off! I use sunscreen and a sun visor now. I weighed when I got back from walk and the scales were actually down, but I know as soon as I drank something.. that was going to change! Ha ! IT's okay... I am going to keep doing what I am doing and all will be fine.
Getting my hair cut and colored today... no hi lites.... that will be nice. Have a facial booked for next week. Anxiously awaiting when I can get a massage!!! Had hoped I would be there by now.. but I told myself I have to be 130 pounds, and I am not there YET. Ugh.
Plan on kicking around with a kickboard this afternoon in pool. Breakfast was steelcut oats with dried fruit cooked overnight in crockpot. Just had a mid morning snack of yogurt, berries and 1/4 c Fiber One cereal... a little yogurt parfait. Lunch is grilled fish and frozen Oriental veggies.. leftovers AGAIN! This is the last meal of this. Thank goodness. Afternoon snack will be brown rice, cheese, spinach casserole. Supper... big tossed salad with smoked turkey and blue cheese on top. Thats my day.

Hey there Erin,

Wow, you are doing great!! I see some real progress going on here. I'm so proud of you. I don't blame you for wanting to get the walking done while it's cooler. I am exacly the same way. No need to cook if you don't have to.

Keep up the good work kiddo! :wave:

INcline of 14, holly beans. I dont think I could do it even for a second lol. I would die on the way up.
But I am not good on hills though.

You are doing great. Keep it up.

Friday morning,
Sandie... so wonderful to see you.. nice surprise! I don't know it ever got hot in Penn.!
Small... I am actually nervous about todays exercise class due to incline 14 looming in my brain! We only did it for 60 seconds last time, but I think we will be doing a lot more of it this afternoon! Yikes!
Had a great day yesterday. Ended up kicking around in the pool with board off and on for well over 2 hrs! Not hard, wasn't really exerting myself, but it was movement all the same. No doubt it was better than watching tv!
Want to do a very short bit on the elliptical today.... very short means less than 20 min. Want to save my energy for class.
Hubby got home yesterday. Slept well last night.
Need to get organized here about food for the weekend. I do much better with a Plan! Lol.
Might try to get the dogs groomed today.. they need it. I got my haircut, they can get theirs done too. This is going to be one of those days where I have to fight the munchies... I can already tell. Ugh.

This is going to be a good day... my official weight as of this morning is 131. I am thrilled of course, but, when I get into the 120's, I will be even more thrilled! LOL
Going to the gym this morning for an easy workout. A neighbor/friend/wife of hubby's employee asked me to go with her. She and I go to same gym as I found out and she suggested it, so I am picking her up in 30 min. SHE drives a JAG, so I actually wish she was picking ME up! Oh well, can't have everything. We have never exercised together, so this will be interesting. She is VERY FIT and a runner, so I hope I don't embarrass myself. I am planning on weight machines and maybe the treadmill on an incline for 20 min or so.
Hubby left town AGAIN this morning, but will only be gone overnight, so its okay. Trying a new chicken recipe I read somewhere. Had to marinate it overnight and then put it on at 6:30 this morning... it will cook on 250 for 5 hours... smells good. Trying to get a little more creative with my cooking as I am getting a bit tired of salads!
I will be booking that massage in one more pound... come on, come on, come on.
Remembered the Friday night chat last night. Small and ria and phoenix were there. Good way for me to spend a Friday night... as opposed to snacking on crackers! I liked it.
Plan to get some pool time in this afternoon. I was in pool last night for an hour. Played around more than anything but I was moving... so I count it as exercise.. sort of!

Got a great workout at the gym on the treadmill.. I tried to more or less recreate the things that we do in our exercise class... but I didn't have the weight. I did 2.5 miles at an incline of (for the most part) between 8 and 14 moving it up and down quite a bit.I was on for 50 min and burned 370 cal. I was happy with that. Came home and ate my chicken that turned out okay.. not great. Got in the pool a bit ago, but got right back out. It is the middle of the day and I don't want to cook. I try to stay out of pool between 11 and 3. Don't know what I was thinking... came in... thought about munching... made a pot of tomatoe and rice soup instead. New recipe.. into cooking today I guess. It has to simmer now for about 30 more min... we'll see if it turns out better than the chicken. the chick was just a lot more bland than I was hoping it would be... and maybe on the dry side as well. In another hour I will be able to gt back in pool and out of the kitchen! Good.
Matthew comes home 5 weeks from today!!

Another day.
The scales held the weight loss from yesterday... don't know why but was afraid they wouldn't.
No big plans for today. I am sure the pool will be in my immediate future tho. Don't want to exercise really, but I have to because of my bootcamp goals... ugh. I need pool and bike riding today.
Todays food.... lots of soup and salad. Yesterdays kitchen creation actually turned out good, so need to eat that up along with the chick.
Found my ipod and charged it up last night. FINALLY.
Eleven pounds form goal... wow... that has a nice sound to it. Maybe this week , I will get to the magic number as far as getting a massage. I want one so bad.
Did not sleep well... stepdaughter and I had a confrontation at midnight. I lost. I am not happy about the situation. The thing that makes me most unhappy is that hubby does not stand behind me. His parenting attitude is "oh, well.... have you forgotten what it was like to be young?" I could give tons of examples, but it would depress me and I don't need that. He always says he will talk to about "that" whatever "that" is at the moment and then he never does. Last night when 10 people showed up for an impromptu party at midnight... I was already asleep and it woke me up ( this happens ALL THE $#%^&** TIME!), the dogs went crazy barking. They party all night and sleep all day. I get to clean it all up. If I don't... then eventually we have no clean dishes to eat off of. When I complained to hubby about that... his answer was to get the maids to our house more often. Ugh. She goes to Hawaii in Aug for college , so there is an end in sight.
Okay... on to better subject
I am tired.
Waiting on the sun to come out so I can take dogs for a walk.. have to be able to see... there is the snake issue, after all.
I guess I need to be pleased that I am not resorting to emotional eating as a result of the drama that goes on around here lately! That is usually what I do, so I am proud of myself!
Hubby comes home this afternoon... I will have to tell him "my version" of what was said last night before my very own live-in Paris Hilton tells him "her version". Wonderful.
I think this is going to be a long day........ and it's not even 6 am yet.

SHOCK OF SHOCKS....Hubby did support me about the weekend! First thing he did when he came home was move all the liquor into his closet and said it will stay there until she goes off to school. HOWEVER, he did not say one word to HER about her behavior. Oh well... can't have everything. I was surprised that he even actually listened to what I had to say about it.
Moving on.
I walk this morning with friend, then have nutrition class this afternoon with 30 min of exercise after that. Was in the pool for 40 min last night.. felt good. I mainly was kicking with a board, but got a few laps in swimming also. Scales are still at 131.
Need to remember the chat tonight.... I think I will. Breakfast was steel cut oats with dried fruit in crockpot, lunch will be BIG salad with chicken on top.... supper.... ugh.... need to do a bit of planning here!

Erin,

Sorry SD is giving you so much trouble, but very proud of you for keeping on track midst it all. That is a big, and very important step!!! Way to go!!! Hope the closet has a lock on it.

131!!! How wonderful!!! You are doing so well, so close to goal, getting so much stronger!!! We will need to see pictures of you on your cruise this September!!!

WEnt for a walk by myself today, but this time I had my ipod. What a dif that made. The music kept me energized the entire walk. I have a really great selection of music on there. I had forgotten how good it was since I haven't used the ipod in over 2 yrs. I will be using it now! I left the house at 6:45 and it was still hot. I need to get out of here earlier than that I guess.
Had nutrition class last night.. it went well. We mainly just reviewed stuff. Talked a lot about fiber and she recommended two dif breakfast cereals for the high fiber content in them. Kashi Go Lean and Fiber One. She had first mentioned them in class about a month ago and I bought them at that time, so I have been eating them since then. Not sure I actually needed help in the "fiber department" as I eat a TON of veggies... but what the heck! We talked again about portion control, how we have come to think of the serving size that we get in a restaurant is the "correct
portion and that is so wrong. There seems to be this "division" in our class. About half of us are more or less following the program to a "tee" and the other half is always saying stuff like "well, I don't like that kind of cereal, I only like blah blah blah cereal, " or " well, my kids wanted pizza, so what was I supposed to do", or "well, my family took me out for MOthers day, so i HAD to eat the fried fish, or the fried that or the fattening lasagna". Did I also mention that the complaining half is not losing any weight and the half that is following the plan IS losing? What an amazing coincidence. I am the only one doing lots and lots of additional cardio exercises... additional to the class itself I mean. I am NOT the biggest loser in the class either! This tells me that the diet aspect of weight loss is a whole lot more important than the exercise part. Of course, I have already seen this with my own parents. They have each lost over 20 pounds and they do not exercise. They are older and use that as their excuse not to exercise, but since they started on the plan with me... they are doing great! I got them interested in it after I went home for a visit and they saw me.. how I looked and what I was eating. Daddy still has his 3 glasses of wine every night.. gotta love him!

Just peaking in for a moment.

You are doing great, good for you for sticking to the advice given and for not letting excuses control you.

Thanks for your pm this morning. I haven't responded but it is making me think alot. Thanks.

Will try and get back later.

you go girl! we need your success to move us on! youre so motivating! hey lets chat sometime soon!

luv ya!

Meesh

Thanks Meesh and Crazy.
I FEEL successful! I feel good and in control... thats good feeling to have. HOpe we truly can all meet up tonight, Wed night for a chat at 8 central and anybody else that wants to show up too, of course!
Going to lay down for a quick nap before my class. Maids just now left. They weren't as swift as I had hoped. Got here at 9 and left around 12:30. Dirty house!

hey...it was fun last nite!!

can you chat tonite at same time930-1000 est??? i'll try to hop on when i get home...will write more later

Meesh

Walked 4 miles this morning... which was hard due to the champagne I drank last night!! UGH. Got in the pool this afternoon and kicked with a board and actually did some true swimming... for 30 min total time. Was going to get back in tonite but opted to get on the elliptical instead. I went for 32 min and got in a little over 3 miles and burned 345 cal.... or so the machine said. Trying hard. Going to see my parents this weekend.... leaving Sat afternoon and will just stay the one night. My mom knows, but Daddy doesn't so that will be nice. He is still having such a hard time from his radiation treatments from a yr ago. I had no idea the residual effects were so bad. He is 77. I have already talked to my mom about the food I will eat... AND WON'T EAT! Not really an issue as they are watching their diets also.

Great job today. Keep it up. You are doing so well.

Meesh... it was great chatting with you last night, so I had to leave so quick.
Thanks for the encouragement Small. You are doing great with all your pool time!
Just got back from my walk. I weighed 132 when I got up.... still up a pound. WAY too much soy sauce the other day, but I know what is causing it, so I am not concerned. Anyway. Went for my walk of 5 miles... by myself and my ipod!... came home and drank a big glass of water... AND GOT BACK ON SCALES.... 131. I have already posted my weigh in of 132 on both my challenge threads , so I am leaving it!
I also ate after I weighed 132 and drank a pot of coffee! How weird is that. I did not sweat very much on my walk.. I started at 5:40 this morning and was home at 7:10.
If I had sweated a ton.. maybe I could understand , but I didn't! I am not unhappy it ... I just find it odd!
Plan to hang out in pool today, not much kicking. Have class tonight. Meeting a friend at 10 tomorrow morning at the gym. She saw me earlier in the week and was surprised at how different I looked from the prior month. (She does my facials and I see her every 5 weeks... I guess I had changed!) As it turns out.. we go to the same gym. She wants me to meet with her to show her sort of what we do on the treadmills... I said sure thing! so that is 10 tomorrow. Hubby and I will go to my parents after that.
My meals are planned for the day. All is well.

Hey eball,

Sorry I missed the chatting last night. I think I just barely missed you all.

Look at that, you are turning into a personal trainer already, whoohoo!!!

Have a terrific time at your parents.

Hi eball :wave:

wow check out the exercise lady ! wow I am impressed - go girl ! :mus:

Had a good Fathers Day with my dad. He loved his new aluminum bike. Hubby put it together and made all the adjustments. It was a big hit... I rode the old bike after I got a 5 mile walk in.. the wind was blowing, the sun was behind clouds, so it was perfect!! Seagulls everywhere. Eating was... decent. Came home and had tuna. Ugh.
This Friday is weigh in day at class, so I have 5 days to flush all the salt and alcohol out of my body. WANT TO SHINE ON FRIDAY.
Went to the gym on SAt morning with friend and did the stairclimber and the treadmill. I am going to try something dif this week.... no walks on Tuesday or Thursday... instead.. I am going to the gym with hubby and doing nothing but stairclimber. I am going to try to do something REALLY dif to mix up my dull routine.
I am hoping my body gets a jolt or something! Hubby leaves the house at 5 so this will be interesting.
I am ready for the scales to move.. :D

What a great day.. the scales moved! I am 129.25 as of this morning. Booking my appointment for the massage... feel so good.
Have a big pot of stewed tomatoes cooking... picked them from parents garden along with the jalapenos... making homemade Rotel type tomatoes and will freeze them. I am coughing and sneezing and gagging from the peppers... wow.
Will post more later.

Hi,

Glad you had a good time at your parents, sounds like the bike was a big success!!!

Careful with those peppers, we don't want our eball getting burned.

Have a terrific week, and SUPER CONGRATS for getting below 130, that is amazing!!!

Wow! Impressive exercising!!! I was looking at bikes yesterday to replace mine. I want something I don't lean so far over. It is so uncomfortable for me (at my age!). you are really doing a fantastic job.

Hello Crazy and Susan.... those jalapenos were potent, let me tell ya! I was coughing and had a runny nose for over an hour!!! The tomatoes turned out so so.. not as good as Rotel... Don't know tho what I can do to make them more Rotel-ish. Add vinegar? Hmm.
The phone rang about an hour ago and I always look at caller id before i answer.. we get about 20 calls per day from telemarketers... and we DO have our name on the don't call list. The number was one I didn't recognize and I almost didn't answer until I saw that the area code was one of the overseas numbers... I thought overseas???? .... Matthew???? I grabbed the phone and IT WAS HIM!!! I rarely talk on the phone with him and I knew that he was out in field doing "maneuvers" and getting the last certification before Iraq. They just got back to barracks and he was calling to tell me Happy Fathers Day. He said I was the best father anyone could have ever had. Apologized for the call being a day late. I said ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? LOL .. I was so thrilled to hear from him. The entire call was maybe 4 min long. It was wonderful. I see him in 3 weeks and 6 days. He had to go and unpack the tanks. I was feeling a bit draggy today, kinda bored and not really into anything... dreading getting up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to go with hubby for my stairclimber torture session. Tired of journaling my food for the nutritionist to "critique".... tired of cooking everything.. missing going to my favorite eating places.... now I am much better. He sounded wonderful. Leave for class in one hour. Planning on chat tonight.
Susan... please don't feel discouraged about your walking.... you are doing so good. Let the foot heal.

Ah, that is sooooooo nice. What a sweet guy. So he is home in less than a month now, so keep journalling for your instructor, keep workin' out, walking and, hmmm, getting up at the crack of dawn? You descide on that one, LOL.

See you tonight.

Hubby was trying to be supportive this weekend when I was complaining about being bored, about the scales not moving, about the shape of my legs.... He suggested a dif routine.. he says my legs aren't going to change shape doing the same thing... he says to do the stairclimber... he wanted to do it with me... him on one and me on one.. I said okay... he leaves for gym at 5 am, so I will have to get up early. He is trying to be nice to me, so I don't want to tell him no. I was complaining ALOT this weekend. He was so understanding about my whining, so I can't say forget it now!

Ah, ok then, do what you can. You have been up really early lately anyways.

Look out for the step machine, stand up straight, don't lean on the handles. Without proper posture it will work your 'butt' muscles alot.

you go girl! sounds like youre doing great!!! whoo hoo for going below 130!!! i want to catch up to you!! :)

you motivated me to go for a walk...didnt make it to the gym today as i went up for a preview of next weeks babysitting stink i'm doing for my brother & sister in law! oh no!

i hope to hop on tonite to chat...i'm sure i'll have to kick someone off here!

see ya soon!

Meesh

it's soooooooooooo great you were able to talk to your son too! i'm happy for you!

Meesh and Crazy... it ws great to see you two in chat last night. It always makes me feel like I am not alone and that this is hard for all of us.
I was up QUITE early today ( 3:30!) and so going to gym at 5 was no big deal. Hubby and I did stairclimber together. I was mainly on level 2 and 3 and stayed on for exactly 50 minutes. I climbed 113 floors and went over 2 miles. Compared to hubby's speed.... i went VERY SLOW!! I was using my heart monitor and kept it in the correct zone for me. I saw my trainer there... when I was done, I talked with her. She was surprised to see me there that early and I told her what the deal was. I also told her how fast I went, the zone I was in blah, blah, blah... she said I did fine. I said I would be limping and sore tomorrow and she said that I would not.. hope she is right. After the stairclimber I jumped on the treadmill for 15 min... and finished up there.... came home and had raspberries and vanilla yogurt mixed in. Weigh the same as yesterday. Continuing to purge clothes from the closet. Some are just ugly! Don't know why I have kept them... or ever bought them to start with!

LOL, that is a great idea to get rid of the clothes you won't be needing anymore, good girl.

Make today a great day. See, I knew you would be up and ready to go this morning, lol.

hey are you taking a nap right now??? LOL

great...rather awesome job on the machine! hope you had fun with hubby...just having a buddy is nice sometimes.

i got the treadmill in for 3 miles today...was going to do machines but end up talking and walking instead.

just wanted to say hi!

luv

Meesh

Meesh! Three miles on the treadmill is awesome... and you have just started back exercising too! You go girl!! It WAS nice to have hubby with me this morning... course.. we didn't talk to each other much. He was on level 6 (draped over the machine) and I was on.... a much lower level :laugh:, but not in a chatty mood, to say the least!
I ended up taking two naps today!! Oh brother... hope I sleep tonight. I think it will be okay as each nap was less than an hour. Phone kept waking me up... darned tenants!
Am planning on eating soup for supper.. made it this afternoon using pork tenderloin I made yesterday and some of the homemade Rotel tomatoes along with other veggies. Had a HUGE salad for lunch with chopped pork on top of that with mango dressing.. really good.
Got in the pool for a bit this afternoon and kicked around but didn't stay long as it was the middle of the day and I am already too too too tanned! I have the coconut look going on... not good.

I am slipping back to my old habit of champagne drinking... had lots last night... I had been allowing myself a couple of glasses a week, but now I am having a few glasses every other day. Told hubby this morning NO MORE. I will never get to goal this way. Ugh. Got in the pool last night to try to work some of it off.... was up almost a pound on the scales this morning... gee, I wonder why.:o
Had my cereal and coffee... its almost 5:30. Hubby left for gym, but not me... I have class this afternoon. I may do a little elliptical today, to try to work off more of the champagne tho.. not sure... don't want to be tired for class. Don't know. Its raining here... again! Saw yesterday where they had flooding in Dallas and people drowned...
The dirty dishes fairy did not come to my house for a visit last night, so I need to go get busy.

Hi Erin
Thankyou for your encouragement it really helps me and means a lot to me. If I got up at 5:30 I would be ok for the day, but the next day I wouldn't be able to function properly,I would fall asleep during the day. It's hard enough now getting to sleep before midnight. Maybe I should try a few glasses of champagne before bedtime LOL.

Champagne is always a guarantee of a good nights sleep! LOL
Doing okay this morning... had a few "problems " with my stomach yesterday. Felt very crampy and yucky.... off and on.... went int kitchen to grab my dried fruit... have been trying to eat 3 servings a day of a new fruit (new for me)... dried dates and figs... as i was getting the fruit, it dawned on me that the fruit was what was upsetting my stomach. I had eaten dried dates 3 times a day for 2.5 days straight... enough was enough! Backed off the dates... stomach was still yucky all day. REALLY YUCKY. Hubby did not want me to go to gym with him this morning.... I think he thought I might explode or something. Wouldn't want to embarrass him! LOL Had trouble getting to sleep last night cause of the cramping... or maybe it was lack of champagne?! Feel better this morning. May kick around in the pool later this morning.
No big plans for the day. Still have to take the dogs for a walk...just moving really slow today.

Hi Erin
I hope the stomach cramps ease off. I was drinking smoothies 100%fruit and after a couple of days I had the same thing. My sister asked me what I had eaten differently and it was only lots of extra fruit. So now its moderation for me.

I wouldn't say I was a good daughter, I am just teaching my children how to look after the older generation, making sure they treat me ok when the time comes,LOL.

Hey Eball,

Sorry about the tummy problems, glad you are feeling better today. But congrats on stepping up and trying new fruits, that is a great idea.

Hope we can chat soon.

Stomach is still not up to par.. but I am getting better for sure. Have not felt up to any vigorous exercise yesterday or today so far. Yesterday, I did what I had to to keep up with my boot camp challenge, but I didn't put a lot of effort into it... so what was the point? I guess I was just after the movement thing. I have exercise class in about an hour, so I will at least get a good 60 min in there. When I am around the others. I will perk up.. I hope! Today is weigh in and I just ate a big snack! Not the brightest thing to do if I wanted a good number from the scales... but I felt if I didn't eat a "sweet" something... I would never make it thru class. I ate a cup of yogurt with some raspberries on top. I guess making it thru the class with style is more important than a lower number on scale! I just want to feel normal again.
Having company tomorrow afternoon... haven't decided quite what to serve there... don't know these people all that well... just snacks and wine type thing. I am sure I will figure it out tomorrow when I am at the store... with my mouth hanging open as I drool over all the "goodies". Ugh. Won't be drooling over any DATES tho!

Ah still a sore tummy, poor eball, those dates are mean things.

Yogurt with raspberries is a wonderfully healthy snack, no guilt there.

I keep seeing you on line but not connecting in the chat room, what is going on here, lol.

HOpe you enjoy your company tomorrow.

hugs girlfriend :)

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

i hope youre feeling better! just wanted to know i'm thinking for you and will keep you and matthew in my prayers! everything will work out. your son is soo lucky to have you during this hard time. keep being the good mom that we all know that you are!

hang in there!

luv ya

Meesh

((((((((((eball)))))))))))))))))))

Hope you are feeling better today. We are here for you

Glad you are feeling a bit better today. Don't let 'stuff' trap you into any stinkin' thinkin'. You are a terrific person and a great mom. It is just a bit of growing up happening, and yes, it sucks sometimes, but you'll all make it through.

Don't let any of this ruin the track you are on right now. YOu need your health and strength to make it through.

See you soon.

Small, Meesh, and Crazy... thank you for the positive thoughts. I still havent heard from my son, but I am doing okay.
This was not a great weekend, but I didn't really eat anything I should not have.. just more of the stuff I normally eat.. I ate when I wasn't hungry... got very little exercise... just enough to keep in boot camp. In general, I was in a bad mood and I am trying to snap out of it.

Well I think you deserve and 'A' for getting through a rough time as well as you did, my friend.

YOu will get snap out of it, I know you will. Routines are back today, workouts and classes coming up, and wanting to look and feel your best for your cruises and birthday. Hubby will be so proud of you!!!

Got an email from my son apologizing for all the hurtful things he said to me the other night... he said it was the alcohol talking.. I believe that! Glad it is behind me and I can get back on track... cause I got off the wagon as far as exercise and my overall well being went.
Left the house at 6:30 am and went for a 4 mile walk.... just about did me in! lol... It is amazing to me how fast we get out of the exercise habit. Found out that two things I was eating last week... were really loaded with calories and I didn't know it. I was eating dates by the handfuls.. until they started upsetting my stomach.. after that, I read up on the calorie content of them.... OOPS. Then.... last week I had bought some Lipton brand diet green tea in throw away bottles. LOve that stuff! I was drinking 2 and sometimes 3 bottles a day. On Sunday, when I grabbed the very last bottle I had.. I noticed it was NOT the diet one that I bought.. it was the regular one with like 160 cal per bottle! Another OOPS. This week will be better. I figured it up... I was consuming over 400 cal per day that I didn't even know about. No wonder I didn't lose weight! lol
Have my game plan set tho for the next few weeks... signed on for a new boot camp.. am refocused and motivated. Next mini goal is 125.

Erin,

So glad things are working out much better for you. Those kids can really mess us up sometimes.

Thanks for being at chat last night. Sorry I can't stay and post much.

Take care.

Left the house at 5 am and went for a 3 mile walk... it is so humid out.. I cut it short... had planned on 5 miles or more.. but that is not happening. Will get in pool or on elliptical later.

Went back to bed and just now got up.. for the second time.. wow... I think I have messed up my internal clock! Plan to go get in a little pool time, eat lunch, and NOT SNACK> Have the munchies today! Have no clue why, but will not listen to my inner voice screaming at me saying "EAT".... listening to the voice roaring from my closet saying.... "YOU WANT TO WEAR THESE CLOTHES EVER AGAIN? BE STRONG". Pool.. here I come.

Lived thru my class tonight... boy, was it hard! Ugh. We got up to incline 15 on 2 different occasions and stayed for a few minutes. I was in agony! Was really sweating. Glad when it was over. Came home and had some homemade veggie, turkey, rice soup. (Maybe also a little bitty sip of hubby's wine. :o )
Just relaxing now.

Wow, good working Eball!!! sounds like a pretty tough workout!!!

Good morning... I am off to a great start today. Got up early and walked 4 miles... the humidity is down a bit... only in the low 90's! LOL. Had a bowl of dry cereal for breakfast... ran out of milk and yogurt. Need to get to the store today. Drank a big glass of grapefruit juice when I came back from my walk. That's one fruit consumed for the day. Nutritionist told me I can substitute a 6 oz glass of juice for a fruit.. but only once in a 24 hr period. I just put two apples along with lots of cinnamon and a little bit of raisins and stevia plus sweetener in the crockpot... making stewed apples for today and tomorrow. That gets me thru the fruits... having a hard time with them lately. Want to buy some grapes at the store... those are good and I haven't had them in a while. I get burned out so fast with whatever fruit I buy.
Plan to hang out in the pool today and drink lots of water.... lots and lots of water. Have not been doing too good in that department.

Got off to a slower start than normal today. Didn't leave the house for my walk until almost 7... its hot, sticky, muggy, miserable ... overall disgusting outside. I did 2 miles... AND I AM DONE. Have class tonight. Am having a cup of veggie soup in a few minutes for my mid morning snack and a huge salad with pork tenderloin on top for lunch. Food today will be fine... all planned out.
Have weigh in for biggest loser tomorrow and then have to think about my goals for the month of July. I looked back over my journal here to track my progress. Doing good, but of course, the pounds are coming off slower and slower. I know that is normal. BUT STILL!!!! On Sunday, I want to post a weight loss goal for August 1... just not sure what it will be. Most likely, at this point... I think the best I can REALISTICALLY hope for is 4 pounds a month? Whatever goal I post... it isn't going to change the way I work out... so I guess it really doesn't matter! Just another one of the silly games I play ! lol

Good luck with class tonight. You have all the hot nasty weather and well here, its cool but so nice. To cold to go swimming though. Although I might try later. I think whatever goals you set, you will do great.

Eball,

Sorry you have such hot and sticky weather right now, but then you have the lovely weather when lots of us are freezing. Just wish we could get our good weather at the same time, eh.

You are doing terrific, and along with the inches and pounds you are adding years to your life because you are making your 'insides' stronger and healthier. I am sure you will achieve your weight goals because you are being realistic and not shooting for some extreme idea.

Keep up the good work my friend.

This is going to be a great day. The sun is just coming up over the clouds and everything has a pinkish tinge right now.. really pretty... till you go outside and it feels like a furnace blast in the face.
Got on the scales this morning and was happy with the results.. 127.. I posted my weight for the Red Team Weigh in challenge and then changed my stats on here. Love doing that..lol
I feel great. Had a great class last night at the gym. The trainer talked to us about a class that is forming the week after ours ends.. it is called Team Fitness and it is similar.. meets 3 days a week. No nutrition is involved with this one, but that is fine.. I feel like I have that part down and to be honest.. I am tired of going to the nutrition class and listening to the others whine about how they are staying on plan for the most part, but not losing weight... they only have pizza once a week... they HAVE TO eat the McDonalds food cause their kids want it... they can't POSSIBLY eat all the veggies they are supposed to, etc. For 30 min each Monday.. thats is what our nutrition class amounts to now. Won't miss that part at all. The new class is dif in that one day it is just treadmills, one day it is half treadmill and half elliptical and one day it is weight machines. I will be signing up for that even tho I know I will miss some due to trips I have planned. Need to sign up fast tho as the class fills up pretty fast. The class I am in now... we started out with 6 and a week later were up to 7.. now we are down to 4! All of us had to pay in advance for the class, so I am surprised that they don't show up more!
Crazy... you are so right about my insides being healthy! I think that is something that I may lose sight of as I anxiously watch the scales for signs of "I am doing good!" I know that I have more energy. I think of my weight loss in terms of visual... like milk jugs.. the big ones ( a gallon?)... I have lost almost 4 milk jugs now! About one and a half milk jugs to go.
Matthew comes home in two weeks.

127!!!

Oh Eball, I am so excited and happy and proud!!! Good work, you are getting this down to a lifestyle that will carry you for many years.

Congrats eball, I hate when people say, I had to eat it because the kids wanted it. HELLO, whos the adult and also, if my kids really want something from somewhere I dont want, I go somewhere else or just wait until I get home. lol.

July 1........ time to make goals for the month...... ugh. Okay... I want to be realistic, so, I my goal for August 1 is to drop 4 pounds or at least give it my best shot. I am staying with my eating plan and its not hard, so FOR THE MOST PART, I don't really even think about that anymore. I am still going to class and exercising on my own also. Must admit that "on my own" isn't near as intense as the class! We have company coming tonight and I have raw veggies with low cal dip... a fruit tray, smoked salmon and pork tenderloin and pate. I will not be eating much pate, but I figure I can just taste it! Made sure I got Wheat Thin crackers as I know that I can have 12 of those per 1 serv starch. The rest are Pepperidge Farm brand, so I figure lots of butter in them... cause they are good! LOL... I will stay away from those and stick with the Wheat Thins. I KNOW I will be having champagne, so that is a given! :o

Great job on the 127 pounds. You are so right in people complaining. No one forces them to eat Mcdonalds or to take their children there either. I feel responsible for what i put in my own mouth and if its a bad choice im accountable for it.

Had champagne and wine last night... okay... moving on. Was not happy to get on scales this morning and see 128.... especially after everyone congratulated me for getting to 127... ugh. No problem... its just water weight gain... or is that champagne weight gain? It will come back off within 48 hrs. Hubby left town this morning and will be gone 5 days, so no temptations with alcohol.
Have nutrition/exercise class tonight. I have started dreading the nutrition class now. I have no patience with others in the class. I should be ashamed of myself... but I'm not! LOL
It's raining AGAIN here... I am getting a bit tired of this. The yard guy called this morning to remind me to turn off the sprinkler system, so I did that.. he said something about it doing a lot of damage now.. whatever!
Finally scheduled my massage. It is tomorrow afternoon and I am so looking forward to that. Need to call this week and schedule for cut color and facial next week... getting ready for Matthew to come home... don't want to scare him off!! lol
Spent half the morning cleaning the kitchen up from the party last night... how we dirtied practically every tray, cutting board, cookie sheet is beyond me. All of that had to be hand washed, so it took awhile... but all is finished now. I just wiped of the counter tops with a new granite counter top cleaner I bought yesterday.. we'll see how it dries!... The REAL test.
Have a salad with pork tenderloin planned for lunch. Trying to drink lots of water and flush out all the champagne.. It may take awhile! LOL

LOL, well it sounds like you had a lot of fun anyways, that is good. That is the important thing, right!! We have to have some fun in our lives too.

Ah, glad you aren't worried about the little 'blip' on the scale, you will have it back off soon.

Hubby is away, now you have a great opportunity to be right on track each day, no one pulling you off. Eat what you want, when you want, exercise how you want, when you want, ............. Do you get my drift? LOL

See you tonight.

Took Crazy's advice ... sort of... and worked extra hard at gym to get rid of the pound that "jumped back on". I had exercise class last night and one of the gals reminded me that I had told her the week before that I would go to Yoga class with her. So I was back at the gym at 8 pm. last night for a yoga class. It certainly was different! No cardio, no heart getting up there and staying up... just stretching moves, but it was nice. I think I may have pulled something in my neck tho. It was sore when I went to bed and much worse when I woke up. Hope it will work itself out today. Massage at 3... that will help.
Was up before 2 this morning... hubby is gone and I don't sleep "right" when he is away. I left the house at 4 am. and got 4 miles in before the sun made it unbearably hot. The humidity was still bad tho. It was very dark. Ran into a pack of wild pigs in our own neighborhood... if possible, they were more scared than me! There were about 15 of them I think.... they ran into the woods after they saw me, but I was right on top of them before either of us saw the other! Two fell down trying to scramble away from me. Ugly things! Yuck. I know we have the pigs around as I see the remains of them every now and then... and of course the damage they do! Just have never seen that many in one place and not UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL!
Will have a salad and lunch... hungry now as I ate 4 hrs ago!! ugh. Threw some stuff into crockpot and will have Spicy Chicken Soup tonight. Hope the recipe turns out.. I have never made it before. Smells good!
Scales were down 1/2 pound today... at least they are going in the right direction... current weight..... 127.50.

Oh my goodness, WILD PIGS!!! That would be a shocker.

Don't forget that if your day is longer(getting up at 4am)then you are also needing and burning more calories, so you might need a couple more boxes to make it through the day. Just a thought.

By the time your hubby gets home you will have dropped that .5 pound for sure!!!

Missed you in chat but good you were able to keep your promise to do a yoga class with her. Hope the neck is better soon. Enjoy that wonderful massage, ah!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Erin
You have been working so hard the little extra you put on will soon work it's way off. I wish my scales would move. I am feeling more fitter and my clothes are not so tight but the scale isn't moving.I guess I have to put more effort into it.

Hi Crazy and Ellie... scales are moving down, but oh so slowly! LOL.
Had my massage yesterday... felt good... would love to do that every day, but alas... reality rears its ugly head! Some friends came over last night and we ended up having an impromptu party... I did "okay". (drank!) Have 2 parties today to make an appearance at.. will try to show some self control.. for a change. Ugh. Because its the 4th.. my exercise class agreed to meet this morning so that our instructor could have the afternoon off.. we will combine with her morning class, so if every one shows up... which of course will not happen... it will be a big group. Already had my breakfast and a pot of coffee... dogs are still sleeping.. it is a little after 5 a.m. here. Lunch will be left over soup from yesterday and supper will depend on the parties.... if I eat there or not. Will have some fruit salad right before I go to the gym this morning.
Staying focused seems to be a problem this week! Can't blame hubby. He is in Colorado. The dogs made me drink? Hmm.

Hi Erin
I sat here reading your journal and listening you tell us how the sun is coming up over the clouds and everything has a pink tinge and I am looking out of the window and thinking another rainy day,it's supposed to be the middle of summer they have had severe flooding in Yorkshire. And then to make matters worse you tell us how good your massage was. I am so jealous. You know they say it's not a good thing to drink alone, so I hope when those dogs made you drink they are drinking with you. LOL.
I hope you have a good 4th July. If my scales don't move in the right direction soon I will buy some new ones that are kinder to me.

LOL, eball. Yes, can't really blame the dogs now can we!!!

Glad you enjoyed your massage, you certainly deserved it.

Ok, parties to go to, hmmm, just look at the drinks or food and think, are they worth going back up over 130 for?!!! Might help.

Last night did not go as well as I had hoped.... but, oh well. Today is a new day and I will do much better.
Went to exercise class at 9 am yesterday and our small class combined with another class and it seemed strange, but I did it and was glad once it was over. She worked us really hard..incline 14 many times and we held it there for a lot longer than normal... went up to incline 15 and it held it there for maybe a minute only once. Lot of hand weights yesterday too. Ugh.
Still raining here. No walking or swimming today for me.
I still have 11 weeks or so before "THE BIG BIRTHDAY", so I need to ramp up and get things moving again. It seems like the past week has not been what I wanted it to be.... I need to fix things.

Went to the Y with some friends yesterday and took a class with them that is 3 times a week. I thought I would breeze right thru it cause I go to MY class 3 times a week and MY class is 60 min.. this one is 35. Well, let me tell you... it kicked my butt! AAGGHH. It used totally dif muscles... we did lots of crunches and lots of side bends with weights... etc. I am so sore. My back hurts, my abs are killing me, at times my arms are sore. What a wuss I am. AND I HAVE MY CLASS TODAY AT 4. Ugh. My eating yesterday was not good... so I had a bit of an eating thing going on for 36 hrs! But today... I am proud to say I am back on track. That means the dogs DID NOT make me drink last night! Those dogs are so mean. LOL
Hubby will be home from Colorado tonight. Went around this morning and did dishes, washed clothes, swiffered the floor, wiped up the spilled coffee off the floor from TWO DAYS AGO!! Bad dogs! Even stripped the bed and put clean sheets on there. Want Monty to know I missed him.
Got an email from Matthew this morning. He is going to a military ball tonight, on base in Germany, and is wearing a bow tie. He had to buy a clip on one as he didn't know how to tie a bow style. He joking fussed at me in the email telling me I didn't teach him to tie the bow .... I DON'T KNOW HOW TO TIE ONE! I emailed him back and told him that! I thought I had done good as a single mom to teach the boys how to tie a regular tie! Forget a bow tie!!!! Told him that too. He said he would email me pics from the ball.
Still can't believe how sore I am... neck, back, everything. May take some Motrin before my class. Was looking at the schedule of other classes from the gym.. the kind where you just show up. There is a Latin Fusion class that sort of sounds like fun. It is offered at 9:30 on Sat morn and also on Sunday afternoon. Maybe. I heard from someone else that it is very crowded. Yuck. But I need to get back in the groove. I can tell that I am slacking... not good. I felt so cruddy yesterday. Two nights of over indulging with champagne and then one day of eating way too much. I just felt awful! I guess that is a good sign. So much better today... even with all the soreness. I told myself tho that WISHING I was losing more weight is not going to make it happen. I am the only one that controls what I do. No one else. Not even those darn dogs of mine.
Off to take a HOT shower.... need to loosen up my muscles.

Had a great workout. Went 2 miles on the ARC.... then 3 miles on the bike, then class started and I got 3 miles in on the treadmill. Need to get over to the "walk to Iraq" thread and post my 8 miles. Talked to my trainer about the Latin Fusion class I was interested in. She didn't recommend that type of class. She wants me to do a more strenuous cardio. Ugh. Will look into the schedule tomorrow. Hubby's flight was delayed due to the storms and flooding in Houston. Called him an hour or so ago on his cell and he didn't answer. I am hoping he is in the air by now. I know he is exhausted just sitting around the airport waiting for a flight to be available. Took the dog for a walk, so we are just sitting around waiting on Monty. I bought pate and crackers for him... when he shows up!
Very pleased with my work in the gym... I think my pep talk to myself about me being the only one to make it happen helped me. Eating was on target too.... finally! Do I need to say the dogs were good today?

Eball, sorry I haven't been here for a bit.

Hope those muscles are feeling better soon. I am sore too but just from painting, lol.

Hope hubby is home soon.

Oh, my painting is all done, just a few touch ups.

Looks like your workouts are good! Glad to see you're working different muscles.

I'm a little surprised that Matthews friends couldn't show him how to tie the bow tie. I'll be single mom was tough.

Went to class this morning... it ended up being more of a stretching type class than cardio, so I didn't get what I wanted out of it. Saw my trainer there and I told her how I felt and she said that I needed the stretching exercises also, so I guess I did okay. She said that in our class on Monday, that she would spend time and go over the dif options offered there at the club and I could figure out what I wanted to do. Not near as stiff and sore as I was, so all is well.
Bob... I doubt that Matthew's friends knew how to tie the bow tie either... I asked my hubby and he said he didn't know either! I just assumed that all guys would know how to tie one. I told Matthew that and he laughed at me.... he said, Mom.... if you didn't teach me how to do it... then how am I supposed to know? I thought that was pretty funny. I wanted to remind him that I didn't teach him to smoke or dip either... and he managed doing THOSE things on his own. But I kept quiet.... for a change.:o
The sun is trying to come out here... I feel like a duck these days.

LOL, hard for us mom's to bite our tongues sometimes, but it sure helps with the 'peace' doesn't it. My goodness, won't be long now and Matthew will be home. When did you last see your other son?

Its been over 4 yrs since I saw Ryan. Hard to believe.
Went 5 miles tonight on the elliptical. Ugh.

Hubby and I went to the gym early this morning... love going that early as not many are there on Sunday mornings. Got on the bike for 20 min and did 4.75 miles, then got on stairclimber and went 20 min for about 1.25 miles I think... forgot to check it actually. Then I went over to the weight machines for 30 min and did whatever I felt like! Mainly upper body as I felt my lower body gets a workout with the treadmill, bike elliptical, arc, and stairclimber... things I have used in the last 2 days. Came home and had a snack... boiled egg... how exciting!
Having company today.... he will be with us for 4 or 5 days I think. Making a pork tenderloin tonight and lots of side dishes, so everyone can just eat what they want.
Breakfast was 1/2c of Fiber One cereal, a container of Yoplait Light, and 1/2 c strawberry/raspberries.
Matthew will be home in less than one week, Hawaii trip is less than 7 weeks, cruise is 11 weeks from today. B-DAY is 12 weeks from today.... my goal from the beginning was to be proud of myself on that date. I'm getting there. I am certainly proud of my accomplishment so far, but still have a long way to go. Not necessarily in weight... but in body composition. I will get there. :D

Yesterday came and went... don't know WHERE it went tho! I don't think I got much exercise in. A little bit of pool time was all... plus all the dog walks. Thank goodness for the dogs. Had a bit of drama around here. Not sure if today will be much better. Trying to stay calm about things. I just feel really bad for other people that I really, really REALLY care about. One of my hubby's employees was "let go" yesterday. He took it very badly. I ADORE John.... he and his family lived with us for almost 3 months when he first started working for comp.... they had bought a house, but the contract fell thru 2 days before closing!!! They had just moved here from